Monday, January 12, 2015

Two Rounds of 50sub4?

A
running club I frequently mention is the 50 States Marathon Club.I also belong to a club called 50sub4.Members of this club share a goal of not only
running marathons in all 50 states, but finishing them in under four
hours.I joined 50sub4 in 2010 and
finished this goal in 2011.

I
saw a few other 50sub4 members this weekend at the Mississippi Blues and First
Light marathons.One of them was Brian
Wright, who led the 3:40 pace group in the Mississippi Blues Marathon.

Brian
mentioned that a few people are already talking about a second circuit of sub-4
marathons in each state.That made me
wonder how close I am to completing a second circuit.There are still two states where I’ve only
run one marathon, so obviously I would need those states.I’ve run at least two marathons or ultras in
the other 48 states, and I’ve already run three in most of them.This weekend, for example, I ran my third
marathons in Mississippi and Alabama.Since I finish most marathons within four hours, I figured I must be
pretty close.

After
reviewing my marathon results, I found that there are 46 state in which I’ve
run at least two sub-4 marathons.This
map shows how many I have in each state.

Two
of the states I’m missing are Hawaii and Alaska.I’ve only run one marathon in each of these
states.I’m already planning to return
to these two states, so I can complete my second “regular” circuit of 50
states.When I do, I should make a point
of finishing within four hours.Alaska
shouldn’t be any problem.Races in
Hawaii have the potential to be hot, but I’ve run a 3:27 in Honolulu, so this
shouldn’t be too much of a problem either.

The
next state I’m missing is Utah.My first
marathon in Utah was the Park City Marathon, which I finished in 3:20.I’ve only done one other race in Utah. That
was a 50K.It took quite a bit longer
than four hours.To get a sub-4 in Utah,
I’ll need to return and run another marathon.

The
other state I’m missing is Kansas.My
first race in Kansas was a fixed-time ultra called the Patriots’ Run.This is a race where you run as far as you
can in nine hours and eleven minutes.Obviously, I didn’t finish that one in four hours.I later ran the Gobbler Grind Marathon to get
my first sub-4 marathon in Kansas.To
get a second one, I’ll need to run another marathon in Kansas.

Add
this to my list of long-term goals.It’s
not an immediate priority, but it may influence my race selection.If I’m looking for a race, and one of races
I’m considering is a marathon in Utah or Kansas, I’m more apt to lean in that
direction.I might not have thought
about this if Brian hadn’t mentioned it, but now it’s on my mind.

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About Me

I’ve been running marathons since 1983 and ultramarathons since 1998. I’m not an elite athlete, but I train hard, and I race hard. I try to race as often as I can, while still striving to do my best in each race. I also use races as an opportunity to travel to different places and meet other runners.